Kickin' It in the Dark
by musicfuhreak
Summary: Kim has a secret. No one knows. Not her family. Not her school. Not even her dojo knows. She had been trying so hard to build a reputation so she could fit in somewhere, and she finally reached the top, but this secret could destroy it all.
1. Chapter 1

The Bobby Wasabi Dojo is a home for misfits. We can handle anything weird, and that means a lot...especially if you know someone like Jerry Martinez. We all fit together, like broken and abused puzzle pieces finally forming a picture. Here, no one is a freak or a loser, everyone is accepted for who they are, and we all love each other unconditionally, because we are family.

However,

If the anyone found out my secret, even my dojo...

that may change.

* * *

><p>"Hey guys," Rudy said while locking the door to his office, "I'm going to Falafel Phil's place to help him out. Just go ahead and warm up by sparring until I get back."<p>

"Ughhhh, why do we always have to spar? Isn't there anything else to do?" Milton whined.

Rudy smirked and shook his head. "Well, you could unclog the backed up toilet in the boy's room," he suggested.

Milton's face immediately flashed from cheerfulness, to an expression of horror and disgust. He gasped dramatically and shivered in fear."Um, you know what guys? Sparring sounds like a greeeat idea!"

I rolled my eyes. "Okay so who wants to spar with me?"

"Nope."

"Oh nooo!"

"Nahhh."

"...I will."

I turned my head towards the voice of the challenger. Jerry. I shrugged. "Okay," I said with a smirk.

This was going to be fun.

Everyone else partnered up and began sparring. "I'll go easy on you Kim, since you're a lady." Jerry said cockily.

"Uh no thanks, I can take care of myself," I shot back, "Go all out."

Apparently, Jerry obeyed, because he sent me some impressive attacks. I had to put up a little more defense than I expected.

"Not bad, Martinez. Not bad."

"Why, thank you!" he chirped in reply.

He threw a punch, but I dodged it. Then I kicked his calf, causing his legs to bend and making his tall frame lose balance. He stumbled then retaliated with a few jabs, but for some reason I had a little trouble dodging them. What started out as a faint whirring behind my eyes suddenly evolved into a wave a dizziness that swept through me.

Oh no. Not now. Not now. Please, not now.

I stopped in my tracks and tried to regain my focus. Seeing me open and vulnerable, Jerry was able to land a hit on me and I toppled over, almost falling. I shook my head trying to get the wooziness out, but to no avail. I had to end this. I attempted to kick him in the torso, but he took the blow without a flinch. Then he did a roundhouse kick that came inches away from my face.

Whoa. He almost had me there.

The back of my eyes began throbbing, and I felt very light-headed. I really, really needed to end this and get out of here. I threw a lame excuse of a punch as my vision blurred and I saw 3 different Jerrys. I aimed for the one on the far left, but all I touched was air.

"Woah missy, you're waay off," Jerry chuckled.

I didn't say anything, I was too dizzy to reply. I paused for a moment and realized everyone else already finished sparring. It was just Jerry and I left on the mat, and the others were watching us with shock written all over their faces. I turned back around and saw Jerry's leg in mid-air heading for me. I clumsily avoided it, but before I knew it, my legs collapsed and everything faded into darkness.

* * *

><p>"Kim. Kim. Kiiiiiimmm. Kim. You okay? Kim. Kim. KIM!"<p>

"Whaa?" I shot up, but was greeted with a whiplash and I immediately laid back down on whatever hard surface I was on. "Owww, I really shouldn't have done that," I said while holding my hand to my head. "What happened?" This time, I sat up slowly and cautiously as the whiplash calmed to a dull headache. I realized I was laying on the bench with the gang surrounding me.

"You passed out while fighting Jerry," Jack said worriedly.

"And you face-planted into the mat," Eddie added oh so matter-of-factly.

His remark made me grimace. That was probably not a pretty sight and I'm sure all the guys would have found it hysterical if I wasn't me. I shot him a death glare and he backed away in fear.

"Are you alright?" Milton asked in a concerned tone.

"Uh, y-yeah. I was just a little dizzy," I stuttered guiltily.

"You might be dehydrated," Jack replied. His eyes were wrinkled with worry and even more concern than Milton.

"Yeah..." I looked down nervously, "That's probably it..."

"Here drink some water," Jack held a bottle to my mouth and I reluctantly drank from it, but I was still dizzy.

As I was taking small sips, I saw a shadow move in the corner of my eye...

"How long was I out?" I asked while lifting the strap of my green tank top to wipe my mouth.

"Um, maybe about 5 minutes," Jerry said.

"Oh...okay. Uh I should really get home now, since my head hurts. But thanks for everything guys." I was already trying to get up from the bench, but I didn't have the strength. I toppled backwards, but Jack caught me in time.

"I should go with you," he insisted.

"No, no. I'll be fine, but thanks anyways." If Jack and the others found out my little situation, they would think I'm some sort of freak show.

I grabbed my bag from the locker and didn't even bother changing as I fled from the dojo as fast as I could.


	2. Chapter 2

I didn't get very far.

In fact, the farthest distance I was able to go was by the tables in front of the dojo. I felt a little bit better since I was outside in fresh air, but that all went away as I saw an elderly lady headed towards the entrance of the dojo.

The air abruptly electrified.

It felt as if someone put a thick blanket over my head, causing my breathing to become shallow and rapid. And, the throbbing in my head behind my eyes returned. I knew this feeling all too well.

"Um, excuse me?" I called out to the elderly woman.

She turned towards me, "Yes, sweetie?"

"Are you looking for someone inside the dojo?" I walked up to her to get a closer view. The heavy feelings intensified, but I ignored them and kept moving forward.

When I got close enough, I could see that the woman had platinum hair that seemed to be thinning. She had a pale complexion, and her skin was wrinkled, but she had this youthful smile that could catch anyone's attention and make their day immediately better. She was also wearing a flowing dress that matched the sky. It fell all the way down to her ankles, and it danced gracefully in the breeze.

And her eyes, wow...her eyes were just beautiful! They had me in awe and I was completely dazed by them. They reminded me of brown sugar, but what amazed me was that they held kindness and determination. Those eyes looked all too familiar...

"Actually yes! Do you train here?"

"Yes ma'am, I'm a black belt!"

The woman's eyes widened and she smiled, "Really? That's wonderful! Congratulations! I know you may find this hard to believe, but my husband trained_ the _Bobby Wasabi himself!"

Wait a minute...Wasn't Jack always talking about how his grandfather taught Bobby Wasabi?

A light bulb went off in my head. THAT'S IT!

"Um, do you by any chance know somebody named Jack? Long-ish brown hair, brown eyes, and about an inch taller than me?" I asked eagerly.

The woman's eyes lit up eagerly, "That's my grandson! Does he go to this dojo too?"

"Yeah! Jack and I are actually really close friends!" I couldn't help but grin widely. I could not believe I was meeting Jack's own grandmother, who also happened to be the wife of a legend!

"Oh how wonderful!" The woman clapped her hands together excitedly. "I was just coming here to visit him, you know check on how he is doing."

I nodded in understanding. "Oh, he's inside the dojo training right now, but we can go inside so you can see him. But if I may ask, did you really travel this far just to visit him?" I knew that Jack's grandparents didn't move with him here because I never saw them whenever I went to his house. They probably stayed in his hometown, whatever city and state it was, because surprisingly, I just now realized that he had never mentioned it to us. He probably assumed he already told us where he came from, since Jerry, Milton, Eddie, and I are so close to him. I mentally face-palmed my forehead for never thinking about asking him. Well, I was never in a situation where I needed that tiny piece of information, so why probe into his business? I then realized I was being hypocritical, because I just asked his grandmother a personal question.

Good job, Kim.

Jack's grandmother's voice brought me back into reality, "Actually, yes. Yes I did, hon'. My husband and I didn't live with his family when they were in their previous house. Like a rock, we just stayed put where we were, unmoving and motionless for the past who knows how many years," she looked up at the empty blue sky and laughed softly to herself.

I didn't want to dig any deeper into her personal business, but my nosiness got the best of me. "So what makes today so special to give him a visit?"

Man, I really needed to learn to control my curiosity. It's going to get me in a bad place if I keep butting in like this.

"Well, for a while now I have been seriously ill. I have been in the hospital for over a year, so I was hospitalized even before Jack's family moved out here. When they still lived near us, Jack would get somebody to drop him off at the hospital everyday to spend time with me. It didn't matter who it was, it could be his mother, his father, his aunt, his uncle, heck, even maybe his neighbor! -"

I mentally giggled at her choice of words: heck. Imagine an old person saying that!

She continued, "Anyways I just recently began feeling much better. So I wanted to come out here to see how he's doing. You don't know how much it made my day in that hard, uncomfortable bed to see him walk through that pasty door with that loving smile on his face!"

Oh, I think I do.

My mind flashed back to all the times where just his crooked smile lightened my mood and my entire day. I could be feeling completely terrible, and just one glance at that smile, and I would know it was made of pure happiness, which would completely reverse my negative thoughts and feelings.

I snapped out of my thoughts and gazed at the woman in front of me. Regardless of age, she was truly beautiful! She's like the female version of Jack, with the same contagious smile and warm eyes. Her face was filled with gratitude as she thought about her remarkable grandson.

I broke the peaceful silence as I cleared my throat. "If you'd like, I can take you to see your grandson, he's probably done training inside." I led her inside the glass doors of the dojo, still ignoring the dizziness.

"Thank you," she murmured. Her voice was so soft, it seemed to carry away with the wind.

I was about to open my mouth to speak, but I saw Jack sitting on the bench with his head propped between his hands. Jerry, Milton, and Eddie were patting him on the back, comforting him.

Eddie looked up and noticed me, "Oh hey Kim, I thought you went home?"

"I decided to come back to check on things," I replied, "What's wrong with Jack?" I turned around to look at the elderly woman.

She was gone.

Jack lifted his head from his hands, his cell phone was clutched tightly in his fist and his face was splotched with tears.

"M-my grandm-mother d-d-d-ied."


	3. Chapter 3

I think I felt my heart crack a little.

I have never seen Jack so...so...vulnerable, so fragile, so broken. His chestnut colored eyes that usually held exuberance, were now dark and sullen. It was as if someone turned off a light switch inside of him. There were no traces of happiness left...it has all been replaced with grief and sorrow.

I cautiously walked up to Jack. The other guys slowly backed away as they saw me approaching. They whispered a few more words of sympathy before they left the room to give Jack and I some privacy.

The presence of Jack's grandmother was nowhere to be found. She was gone, but I knew I would be seeing her again soon.

I didn't know what to say. How was I supposed to react?

'Oh, I'm sorry for your loss, but it's not really a loss because your grandmother is still here. In fact, I talked to her no more than ten minutes ago.'

Yeah...totally not the right moment to say something like that. Ever.

"People said I looked like her, my Grandma," Jack said quietly, interrupting the silence that had fell between us. "She was so nice and caring. When she was in the hospital before I moved, I would visit her everyday, even when my parents were too lazy to drive me there. I just had to see her at least once a day, to know that she was okay. I loved her so much because she was the only one who truly cared."

I sat down beside Jack, and pulled him into my arms. He leaned into me and laid his head in the crook of my neck. Then he broke down. He began sobbing, his crumpled form shaking violently as I rubbed his back. I could feel his warm tears trailing down my skin, tickling the little baby hairs that were in their paths and wetting my shirt.

"Shh," I cooed.

We stayed like that for what seemed like hours, until his sobs fell silent. I could feel him breathing slowly and evenly now. Even asleep, his face looked tense as his eyebrows were furrowed and his mouth seemed to be frowning. Seeing Jack like this made the pit of my stomach burn with empathy. It reminded me of the time when I went through the same thing.

* * *

><p>I<em> was only 5 years old. <em>

_The school bus dropped me off at home after a tiring day of play at school. I walked through the front door humming Apples and Bananas, but abruptly stopped when I saw my mom sitting at the dining room table with her face in her hands. My dad stood beside her with an indescribable look of pain on his face._

"_Mommy? Daddy?" I asked. "What's wrong?"_

_I then noticed that my older sister, Selene, wasn't home yet. She usually arrived home from school before I did._

"_Where's Sissy?" _

_They didn't answer._

"_Where's Sissy?" I repeat, worry rushing into my voice._

"_Kim, sweetie," my dad said while slowly walking towards me. I backed up a little. My little 5-year-old mind sensed I wasn't going to like what he was about to tell me._

_He continued, "Selene won't be coming home." _

_I paused. "Well...where is she? Did she run away?"_

_Fresh tears began streaming down my dad's face. "She's – she's," my dad sighed, then bluntly spoke two words that would change my life forever.  
><em>

"_She's dead."_

_My body went completely rigid and my mind froze. My throat tightened and I suddenly felt nauseous. Even at 5, those words were just as devastating as it would be for a person who was mature enough to actually understand the extent of death._

_No. No. Nonono. This couldn't be true. Sissy's bus was supposed to take her home from her middle school today. Sissy was supposed to be home, talking and laughing with us. Sissy was supposed to help me with my vowels homework tonight. Sissy was supposed to sleep in the room that we shared. Sissy was supposed to kiss me goodnight. Sissy was supposed to be here..._

_Here._

"_Daddy?"_

"_Yes, sweetie?"_

"_I'm gonna throw up." _

_And in a flash, my dad guided me to the bathroom and held my hair as I released my dinosaur chicken nuggets, animal crackers, and apple juice into the toilet bowl._

_After I finished and my dad flushed the toilet, I leaned against the bathtub to cool down my scorching hot skin. My hair started to plaster against my face and I stared up at my father. Then I realized something..._

"_Daddy, Sissy's not dead," I said in a confused tone._

_A small smile graced my Dad's lips. "Yeah, in a way. She's in Heaven right now with your Granny and Pappy."_

"_Noo." I shook my head. "She's right behind you."_

_Next thing I knew, my dad was passed out on the bathroom tiles._

_After he regained consciousness, Daddy and Mommy both debunked my statement as denial. Apparently my young mind couldn't handle the news so I imagined up Selene, so I would believe she wasn't truly dead. _

_But I knew it really was her. She would visit me every night to give me a goodnight kiss, and I could actually feel her warm lips on my forehead._

_She was the first dead person I saw. _

_But after a while, I decided not to tell my parents about Selene any further, because after 3 years of trying to convince them that I truly was seeing and spending time with her, they still didn't believe me. They hired a therapist to help me through my "loss," thinking that seeing my sister was a figment of my imagination. I was taken to various doctors, but they all gave the same "diagnosis," and I was put on countless medications. All the constant pills made me feel horrible. I would make myself throw up at night, because I knew my body didn't need the medications. They didn't need to sit in my stomach and do further damage to my body. _

_So my last resort was to give up on my parents. I told them that it took me 3 years to finally realize that it was all in my head. Of course, I was lying right through my teeth, but I couldn't stand the constant doctor visits, therapy appointments and useless medications any longer. Thankfully, they bought it. They tried to comfort me, telling me that I had overcome a challenging phase in my life._

_I rolled my eyes. For God's sake, I was only 8, and they're telling me that I had overcome a challenging phase in my life? I hadn't even overcome elementary school! But nonetheless, they were happy, and we returned to our almost normal way of life, well...they did. _

_After a while, Selene stopped visiting me, but all these other strangers would come up to me and ask me for help. I knew they were dead too, I could feel it. Most of them looked like normal people, but some of them looked grotesque, and a few of them were negative entities, demonic...evil. It would make me hide under my blankets at night, knowing that they were standing right beside my bed, watching me. It was as if their eyes could pierce through my comforters and sheets. All I could do was pray to God and Selene to protect me._

_But this was my life now. I see the dead. Simple as that._

* * *

><p>"Jack?" I shook his shoulder gently.<p>

"Hmm?" He groaned then returned back to the crook of my neck. I blushed, but ignored it as I shook him again.

"Jack, please wake up. It's me, Kim."

And in a snap, Jack was upright on the bench staring at me confusedly. His cheeks were tinged red, although I couldn't tell if it was from the crying or him realizing that he fell asleep on me with such close proximity.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Jack mumbled while staring at the huge tear stain on my shirt. "And I'm sorry about your shirt."

I chuckled. "It's okay. You needed a friend to lean on. I know how it feels to lose someon-"

"No, you don't know" Jack snapped. I jumped back, startled by his sudden outburst.

"What?"

He raised his voice. "I SAID NO! YOU DON'T KNOW, OKAY? NO ONE KNOWS HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW! WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE SOMEONE THEY LOVE!" The waterworks returned to his face. "I feel so – so..." He trailed off.

"So lost and alone," I finished the sentence for him. "You feel that you are in a dark place and that no one understands you. You feel as if a part of your heart was ripped out of your chest and buried 6 feet under. You sometimes even consider joining them, so you won't be alone in this hell we call life.

You're surprised aren't you? You're probably wondering, 'How could the selfish and overly-confident Kimberly Crawford possibly know how I feel?' You know, you're not the only one who has lost someone they loved! SO DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS, BECAUSE I KNOW EXACTLY HOW IT FEELS!" By the end of _my_ rant, I realized that I was standing up and pointing an angry finger at Jack. I dropped my arm and tried to calm my breathing.

"Kim...How...?" Confusion was written across Jack's face. He was utterly speechless at my outburst.

"Follow me." I walked out of the dojo and exited the mall, heading down a gravel road with Jack following closely behind me. We walked down the road in silence, until Jack spoke up.

"Kim, I am so sorry for yelling at you like that and saying those things. My emotions were just so overwhelming, and I guess I just took it out on you."

"It's okay, Jack, really. I understand. And I'm sorry for snapping at you too." After traveling a few more blocks, we arrived at our destination. "We're here."

I stood outside of the metal gates of Seaford Cemetery. I climbed over the fence beside it and Jack, realizing what I was doing, helped me over it and then hopped the fence after me. We walked through the maze of graves until I suddenly stopped at a headstone. Jack ran into me, not noticing that I stopped walking. He looked down at the headstone in front of me and read the engraved calligraphy aloud.

"Selene Luna Crawford. July 3, 1988 to October 9, 2002. May you watch over your loving sister and family from the stars, just like the beautiful Moon. See you soon, little angel."

Jack gazed up at me in surprise. "You have an older sister?"

I nodded uncomfortably.

"What happened to her?"

"She had a severe allergic reaction at school. Peanuts. It was lethal. Her airways were blocked and she couldn't breathe. And those stupid teachers didn't do anything about it! They just panicked and called for the nurse. By the time _real_ help came, it was too late." My eyes filled with tears. Jack was the first person outside my family that I told about my sister.

Jack pulled me into a hug and buried his face in my hair. "I am so, so sorry, Kim. But I'm glad someone understands what I'm going through."

I returned the hug and we walked out of the cemetery together, hand in hand. As we were leaving, I thought I saw Selene from the corner of my eye, smiling at me. As usual, though, by the time I turned to look, she was gone.


End file.
